LIVING WITH FIBROMYALGIA: INSIGHTS AND COPING STRATEGIES
Did you know that over 3 million fibromyalgia cases are diagnosed in the United States each year? Although it is a common chronic condition, fibromyalgia is poorly understood and is not a recgonized diagnosis by many healthcare professionals. Regardless, it is a medical condition that patients suffer with, and they need a solution. In this week’s blog, we will discuss what fibromyalgia is and explain what we can do to help.
What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is broken up into two words. “Fibro” and “myalgia”. Fibro comes from the term fibroblasts, which are cells that create and maintain connective tissue. Myalgia is the medical term for muscle aches and pain. Combined, fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes widespread pain and tenderness, migraines, fatigue and sleep disturbances.
The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, but it’s thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Fibromyalgia can affect both men and women, but it is far more common in women.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia is difficult because there is no specific test. Diagnostic imaging and bloodwork may be ordered to rule out other medical conditions. In the past, healthcare providers used to perform a trigger point exam to 18 specific points, and if 11 or more produced pain, the diagnosis was fibromyalgia. However, at the present time, a fibromyalgia diagnosis occurs when the patient notes that they have been experiencing widespread pain for at least three months.
How is Fibromyalgia Managed?
There is no cure for fibromyalgia, but there are management options that doctors recommend. Patients who have fibromyalgia may take NSAIDs, painkillers, or may get steroid injections every few months. Fibromyalgia patients know just as well as we do that these treatment options are only temporary stabilizers and not long-term solutions.
Fibromyalgia patients should get their case managed from both a physical and mental perspective. Alternative therapies that can help alleviate physical pain include daily stretching, massage therapy, and/or acupuncture.
Healthy diet and physical exercise are a must. Yes, exercise will result in additional muscle soreness; however, constant movement will promote stronger muscles, increased blood flow, and reduced stiffness. Proper diet is essential because fibromyalgia is an inflammatory condition. Certain foods increase inflammation and can cause more pain. Studies show that eating a leaner diet and foods higher in protein with healthy fats help reduce inflammation.
From a mental perspective, fibromyalgia is widespread, chronic and debilitating. Individuals deal with the same pain every day, often leading to depression. Looking into routine mental health treatment can help patients cope with the pain and reduce stress levels.
What Can We Do to Help?
Most chiropractors don’t agree with a fibromyalgia diagnosis, and they believe it is a blanket diagnosis because nothing appears on any diagnostic testing procedures. Regardless, it is the diagnosis we must work with, so it our job to give each patient with fibromyalgia a better quality of life.
We want fibromyalgia patients to understand that our job is to not cure the problem, but rather to manage it. There is currently no cure for fibromyalgia, so treatment should be frequent and managed early into diagnosis.
At our office, we provide frequent spinal manipulative treatment and trigger point therapy to remove nerve interference and reduce muscle tension. Also providing therapeutic modalities such as electric muscle stimulation, ultrasound, and/or intersegmental traction will further balance body equilibrium.
Another modality that we use in our office is our Hakomed device that we use for neuropathy patients. The therapy is called horizontal therapy, and it has several different programs that can help with many different conditions beyond neuropathy. Each program is designed for something specific and brings electrical currents of different frequencies and wavelengths through the body to heal.
The overall goal of horizontal therapy is to first release the body of a pain receptor cell called cAMP. After a series of treatments, the settings are changed on the device to go deeper into body tissue and restructure the change of cells. Overall, our fibromyalgia patients have responded very well to our treatment and have seen a better quality of life.
Fibromyalgia can be a debilitating condition if nothing is done to improve the quality of life; however, if action is taken, and you turn a negative into a positive, you will be surprised how you can manage a normal life with fibromyalgia.
If you have any questions about fibromyalgia, please call us at (724) 547-3377 and check out our website at www.laurelmountainchiro.com for more content.
Yours In Health,
Brian M. Steinert, DC
Larry E. Wilkins, DC